Dietary Guidelines 2015

Every five years the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and
Human Services publish the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These
guidelines are developed by an expert panel of nutrition and health
professionals to help all Americans consume a healthy and
nutritionally adequate diet. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans were recently released and have outlined the following
five recommendations:

Follow a healthy eating
pattern across the lifespan. All food and beverage choices matter.
Choose a healthy eating pattern at an appropriate calorie level to
help achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, support nutrient
adequacy and reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Focus on variety, nutrient
density, and amount. To meet nutrient needs within calorie limits,
choose a variety of nutrient-dense foods across and within all food
groups in recommended amounts.

Limit calories from added
sugars and saturated fats, and reduce sodium intake. Consume an
eating pattern low in added sugars, saturated fats and sodium. Cut
back on foods and beverages higher in these components to amounts
that fit within healthy eating patterns.

Shift to healthier food and
beverage choices. Choose nutrient-dense foods and beverages across
and within all food groups in place of less healthy choices.
Consider cultural and personal preferences to make these shifts
easier to accomplish and maintain.

Support healthy eating
patterns for all. Everyone has a role in helping to create and
support a healthy eating pattern in multiple settings nationwide,
from home to school to work to communities.

So what do these guidelines actually mean and how can one use them
to consume a healthy diet?

In the past the Dietary Guidelines have focused on specific foods
and nutrients that Americans should limit or increase. This
set of dietary recommendations is a bit different in the fact that
the guidelines focus on a “healthy eating pattern.” Recognizing that
people do not eat nutrients or specific food groups in isolation
but within a complete diet that includes a variety of foods and
forms, the expert panel developed “key recommendations” to help
people create their own healthy eating pattern. The recommendations
suggest types of foods that one should consume regularly but allow
someone to select their own specific foods to fit within their own
culture, lifestyle and budget, while maintaining a healthy body
weight.

The following are the key recommendations that one should keep in
mind when selecting foods as part of their healthy eating pattern.

Focus on whole
grains. There are a variety of whole grains that one can eat in
their diet including whole wheat, oats, brown rice, quinoa, millet,
rye berries, bulgar, etc. Aim to make half the grains consumed in a
day whole grain.

Eat a variety of
high protein foods. Studies suggest that people who consume more
seafood, beans and peas, and nuts and seeds may have lower risk for
chronic diseases such as cancer. When selecting meat and
poultry products, consider choosing lean meat and poultry more often and limiting the amount of processed meat and poultry
products.

Choose low-fat
dairy products more often than full-fat dairy products.

Include oils. When
cooking consider using oils, such as canola oil, on most days of the
week or for most recipes. Use fats, like butter or shortening,
occasionally.

If one follows the suggestions listed above, there should be a decrease
in
the amount of saturated fat, added sugars and sodium in their
diet. These are the only nutrients that the Dietary Guidelines
specifically suggests limiting in one’s eating pattern.

The Guidelines state that Americans should limit their consumption
of saturated fat and added sugars to less than 10% of their calories
per day. This means that if one consumes a 2,000 calorie diet
they should eat no more than 22g of saturated fat per day and no
more than 50g of added sugar per day. In order to meet these two
specific recommendations, Americans should consider consuming less
meat and poultry products, choosing low-fat dairy products more
often, drinking less soda and sugar-sweetened beverages and
drinking more water.

Additionally, the guidelines state that Americans should consume less
than 2,300mg of sodium each day. To reach this recommendation
Americans need to consider limiting their consumption of processed
meats and poultry and packaged foods, and consuming more “whole” foods such as fresh or frozen vegetables, for example.

It is important to
remember that all foods can fit into a healthy eating pattern, and
that the key recommendations described by the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans are simply telling us which foods we should include regularly in
our diet or eating pattern. For more information about the
Dietary Guidelines visit
health.gov.